NSW leaders clash over privatisation, tolls and wages

Luke Costin and Maureen Dettre | February 9, 2023

The NSW premier and the man who would take his job have sparred over the sale of state assets as Dominic Perrottet refuses to rule out further privatisation.

During the past 12 years the coalition government has offloaded a series of assets, including ports and the electricity network, to fund its large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the Sydney Metro.

“We don’t have any plans but ultimately with economic headwinds coming our ways, economic management and financial management is incredibly important,” Mr Perrottet told reporters on Thursday.

The premier said he would look at “all means possible” to deliver infrastructure, attacking Labor for making vague, feel-good promises ahead of the March 25 election.

“Motherhood statements don’t build metros, the motorways, the schools and hospitals,” he said.

The issue of privatisation became the major point of contention during a morning radio debate with Labor leader Chris Minns as the unofficial election campaign heats up.

Labor has ruled out selling further assets, saying the dividends from state-owned corporations would be among the ways to fund construction.

However, those dividends are projected to deliver $5.3 billion in the next four years, leading the premier to warn the $12.4 billion Sydney Metro West project would be cancelled under Labor.

While Treasurer Matt Kean has committed to returning to surplus in 2024/25, Mr Perrottet said he would be prepared to go further into debt to fund new infrastructure projects.

“We’ve had a balanced approach to managing the state’s balance sheet,” he said.

“Our debt position is sustainable and affordable. We’re the only state in the country to have two triple-A credit ratings.”

General government sector net debt is projected to be $78.4 billion or 10.2 per cent of the state’s economy by June 2023, rising to 13.8 per cent by 2026.

The debt is then expected to stabilise and begin to come down by 2030.

Mr Perrottet has previously said he has no plans to privatise assets only to follow through with subsequent sales.

In 2018, he said the government didn’t intend to sell its 49 per cent stake in the WestConnex toll road project. Three years later, it was sold for $11 billion.

Mr Minns maintains privatisation has gone too far, with family budgets stretched to the limit paying tolls to a private company.

“We’ve now got a 100-per-cent privately-owned toll road monopoly in the most tolled city on the face of the earth,” he said.

Mr Minns also claimed the shortage of health staff and teachers would only get worse under the coalition due to its cap on public sector wages.

However, the premier said the wages cap was fair and reasonable “because if you don’t control expense growth in the budget you can’t invest in frontline services”.

Mr Minns said after more than a decade of coalition rule, it was time for a change and “a fresh team that’s not divided”.

But Mr Perrottet cast doubt on Labor’s ability to deal with the economic challenges on the horizon.

“Labor doesn’t have the experience to deal with the issues that are coming our way,” the premier said.

Mr Perrottet spent Thursday morning touring the construction site of the new $658 million Sydney Children’s Hospital, which will bring researchers, educators and clinicians under one roof.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader travelled to Conjola Park, a south coast holiday town ravaged by the Black Summer bushfires, and promised to give the auditor-general more oversight powers for government grants.